


Osmosis Part Two: A Push Forward

by Zanya



Series: Osmosis [2]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Blindness, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Pre-Relationship, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-24
Updated: 2013-11-24
Packaged: 2018-01-02 13:40:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1057422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zanya/pseuds/Zanya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ed decides to visit Roy after Father is defeated in order to return a favor the Colonel once bestowed upon him. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Main Story will be EdRoy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Osmosis Part Two: A Push Forward

Ed walked towards the main group of military tents that had been set up for the injured. Small groups of soldiers were smattered about, talking amongst themselves, but otherwise no one else had stuck around since it was getting late. A couple doctors had come and took Al to be looked over and told him that he would have to wait outside so he decided to pay Mustang a visit while he had nothing to do. Most everyone, including Hohenheim, went in different directions to either be treated for wounds or find their loved ones and friends. Even Ling and Lan Fan had momentarily disappeared. 

When Ed had left Al with the doctors he had overheard some soldiers talking about Mustang. There had been a few whispers of mandatory medical retirement and that had been enough for him. Even though they didn’t always get along, it still stung that the Colonel had been forced through the Gate. Ed knew what it was like losing something valuable, but it had always either been his own choice or because of his own mistakes. No one had ever coerced him into anything. 

He stopped in front of a larger tent. Most of the tents had been left open, but this one remained closed off. Pushing the curtain back, Ed peeked inside to make sure he had gotten the right one. He sighed softly and blew his bangs out of his face. The inside of the tent looked the same as the others. There were a couple crates on the ground for chairs and few stacked up along the wall of the tent. Most likely they had medical supplies in them. Roy was alone in the tent. A shabby wooden table sat next to him and had a glass of water sitting on it. 

Now that he was here, Ed didn’t really know what to say. Roy sat on a crate with his military coat off, and the top two buttons of his blue shirt were undone. Mustang looked slightly lost and more than a little miserable. His hands were still bandaged up in white gauze and sat in his lap. 

Ed closed the tent flap. It unnerved him to see someone he respected reduced to dependency. He realized that this was still new for Mustang. Considering a full day hadn’t even passed, he had still managed to use his alchemy with the help of Hawkeye; the Colonel had adjusted extremely well in such a short period of time.

Still, even though he knew Roy would be okay, Ed knew that feeling of first realizing his life would never be quite the same after he lost his arm and leg. Even now with both of them back, that memory of how lost and powerless he felt would never fade. Mustang had been the one to give him hope and the push he needed to move forward so when Al suggested he tell the Colonel thanks for helping them, Ed knew what it really meant. Check on him and make sure he didn’t need the same push.

“Hello?” Mustang’s eyes searched in his direction, and Ed could tell he wasn’t sure who had come to visit. 

“I hear you’ll have to retire after this.” Ed shuffled closer to where Roy sat while keeping a few feet between them. 

Mustang’s head turned towards the sound of his voice and movement of his feet. “Ah, Fullmetal.” Roy visibly relaxed and leaned his hands back on the crate. “Yes, that’s how it would normally go. A blind man is no use to the Military.” 

“Normally? Do you think you can get around it?” Ed’s face grew thoughtful. He hadn’t thought Mustang would be able to continue in the military, but the Colonel had always been so clever. Perhaps he had found a way around it. “Maybe if you tell them your team can help you out they’ll let you stay on.”

“I won’t have to. Doctor Marcoh came to visit me earlier.” Roy’s eyes continued to search around for him only to miss the mark by a few inches. His line of sight look directly over Ed’s left shoulder. “He offered me his Philosopher’s Stone in exchange for reviving Ishval. Once I get my eyesight back, I’ll be heading out East again.” 

Ed felt a sudden chill at watching Mustang blindly try to find him. He folded his arms across his chest to get rid of the goose bumps that broke out on his arm. “Good. I’m sure you’ll be able to use it for the toll, though, really you shouldn’t have to use anything.”

“I beg your pardon?” Roy’s eyes narrowed in confusion. 

“They made you go through the Gate. I’m not even sure how or why Truth took something from you when you didn’t do it. Had meant to ask while I was in there but getting Al back was the only thing on my mind then.” Ed frowned. Now that it was over, and he had time to really think about it, the first prickles of guilt began to bloom in his chest. Hadn’t he said he wouldn’t accept Roy’s punishment? Yet he still did nothing about it when he had the chance. 

“Life doesn’t always require equivalent exchange, Ed or for things to be fair. Someone had to pay it and I was the only one there. The only one at my Gate.” Roy moved his hands onto his lap and folded them together. “Isn’t that how it works? In order to gain that knowledge you have to sacrifice the equivalent.” 

Ed nodded his head in agreement even though Roy couldn’t see him. “Yeah, well, doesn’t mean it’s not complete bullshit.” 

“I can think of plenty of things in life that are.” Roy tilted his head and smiled ruefully. “So what will you do now, Fullmetal?” 

“Not Fullmetal. Not anymore.” Ed moved closer until he could grip the edge of the table. He leaned against it and exhaled a deep breath. “And I don’t know. I can’t be a State Alchemist, and there’s no way I’m going into the military. I guess I’m going to take Al back to Resembool and then after that, who knows.” 

“I heard you gave up your alchemy and got your arm back.” Roy turned his head to his right where Ed was at. “I had thought about doing the same to get my sight back. Use my gate as a toll but then I’d be stuck there. You boys are fortunate your Gates were tied together.” 

“It definitely came in handy. Oh, I have my leg back too. Wasn’t going to bother since it was my price to pay for trying to play god, but Al called me out on it.” Ed scrunched up his nose and scratched his left thigh. “Feels weird, though, having both of them back after using automail all those years. And you’d laugh if you could, you know, see them because they’re skinnier than the rest of me so now when I walk I hobble like an old man and my right arm looks a little flat in comparison.”

Roy did laugh, which made Ed smile. It was a real laugh, something that Ed wasn’t used to seeing but made Roy’s face light up. “Sounds lovely. Makes sense, though. I didn’t recognize you when you came in.”

“Recognize me?” Ed raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean by that?”

“Your walk always sounded a little different with your automail.” Roy’s hand did an odd up and down mimicking of what Ed could only assume was supposed to be how he used to walk. 

“I must’ve been used to it then.” Ed shrugged. He had never really given it much thought before when there were too many other, more important things to worry about. “I still have some metal in me, though. Where the ports were connected to the rest of my body there are some parts left. Asked a doctor if they could be removed and he said he didn’t know.”

“You’ll probably always be able to feel a rainy day coming,” Roy added quietly. “I know people who’ve had old wounds in their joints and bones. That will never quite go away.”

“Yeah, now I know how you must feel whenever you go places.” Ed pushed away from the table, his right hand moving outward. “All, you know, achy and decrepit.”

“I’m not achy or decrepit, Ed.” Roy narrowed his eyes and shifted in his seat. 

“Pfft, right. You like what, old enough to be my grandfather?” Ed’s grin could be heard in his voice. Teasing Mustang would be something he’ll miss now that he was no longer a State Alchemist. 

“At least I’m not a smartass little runt like you,” Roy countered without missing a beat. 

“No, you’re just a smartass old grandpa.” Ed returned the shot in full, excited by how much more alive Roy seemed now than he was a few moments ago. “And I’m not that little anymore. Still have a few years of growing left in me.”

“I’d rather be a smartass old grandpa as opposed to a tiny smartass who has the soul of an old man.” Roy ignored the part where Ed would still grow in favor of keeping their banter going. 

Ed’s mouth turned up into a lopsided toothy grin. “Yeah, well at least I won’t be useless whenever it rains.” 

“I can still fry you, you know.” Roy drew out his right hand and put his fingers together even though he had no intentions of doing it. “Even if it’s raining.”

“Too bad you can’t see what you’re transmuting. I’ll just step out of the way,” Ed snickered. “And since you’re old and useless, you won’t be able to move as fast as me.”

“At least I can still transmute.” Roy’s lips twitched like he was trying to hold back a smile. 

“That was low even for you.” Ed bent forward, with his hands on his knees, laughed. “Didn’t think you had it in you to go there so fast.”

“You think?” Roy asked inquisitively. “I thought it fit perfectly.”

“Eh, it’s fine.” Ed waved the comment off. “I don’t really mind. I’d rather give that up to get Al back than sacrifice someone else.”

“I’m going to miss this. The office will be quiet without you and Al around,” Roy said in a serious tone of voice. 

“Nah, you still have almost everyone else there.” Ed stood up straight, stretched, and then put his hands on his hips. “Probably won’t even notice we’re gone with all the work you’ll be doing in Ishval.” 

“You and Al are more than welcome to stop by and visit us anytime you want.” Roy’s eyes searched in his direction once more, and Ed had to give him credit for trying. “We won’t be that far from you.”

“Yeah, maybe we will come by and see if you’re still slackin off.” Ed took his silver watch and opened it up. About a half hour had passed since he came in to visit. 

“I don’t slack off, Ed.” Roy folded his arms across his chest and closed his eyes. “I rest with style.”

“Is that what you call it? Better keep busy so you can get to the top if you ever want your money back.” Ed unhooked the watch and placed it in Roy’s hand. “Here I should probably give this back while I’m thinking about it.” Roy grasped the watch but didn’t say anything so Ed glanced away towards the tent flap. “Well, Al should be about done so I’m gonna head back and check on him.” 

“Give him my regards and tell him to stop by and say hello.” Roy set the watch down and stuck out his hand. “It’s been a pleasure, Ed.”

Ed leaned in and shook it. Roy’s hand felt warm, making his own tingle for a moment until they parted. Something in the back of his mind tried to push forward, and for a brief moment he remembered Greed teasing him about the Colonel. But he pushed it aside, not wanting to relive any of those memories just yet. It felt too soon to think about how he was gone. For as much as Greed pissed him off, Ed would miss him. 

“Sure, I’ll tell him. I know he’ll want to stop by later on to say hello.” Ed stuck his hands in his pants pockets and turned towards the entrance. He glanced back at Roy once more. “And if we come visit you in the East, I expect those eyes of yours to be working again.” 

Ed pulled back the tent flap and slipped outside, leaving Roy alone. It was early evening, and the sun had almost set. Debris crunched underneath his feet as he walked towards the tent Al had been taken to. Ed looked up at the darkening sky and grinned. It felt weird that he was no longer the Fullmetal Alchemist, but it also excited him that for once in his life, he didn’t have any goals or plans for the future.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm fairly new to the FMA fandom, but I've noticed that there aren't a lot of stories where Ed took Truth up on its offer and takes it all. I think I've only read one story where he gets everything back. Since reading the Manga this past September, I've been wondering what would have happened if Al had insisted Ed take his leg back and if that would have postponed Ed's proposal to Winry since her telling him to make an appointment prompted that entire scene. I wanted to explore that idea more and see what happens ^^
> 
> I forgot to add when I first posted this, that this story follows the Manga storyline. If there's any confusion about some of the contents, please ask and I'll explain!


End file.
